RotBTFD 30 Day Challenge
by jackfrostbeliever
Summary: Basically, the title explains the story. Story will be inspired by prompts on Tumblr, as most of the stories like this are. All characters involved. Even the Snuggly Duckling thugs. That's how far I've dug. One every day for thirty days. Remember, it may not have amazingly long chapters, but quality over quantity. No particular subject. Canon pairings only! Sorry, fandoms.
1. Leaves

RotBTFD 30 Day Challenge: Day one.

Prompt: Leaves.

Halloween was fast approaching, and the gang was feeling the need to get out of the school for a bit. It was one of those rare fall nights when the temperature was just cold enough for the boys to feel the need to wrap their arms around their girlfriends, but not so cold that they couldn't have a good time. It wasn't against the rules to leave school grounds on weekends, so the crew packed up in Merida's van equipped with all sorts of food, blankets, and firewood for the bonfire they were going to have. Merida's van was stuffed to capacity, hauling along herself, Hiccup, Astrid, Tooth, Jack, Rapunzel, Eugene, Hubert, Hamish, Harris, Emily-Anne, Baby, and Hiccup's dog, Toothless. Merida hadn't wanted to bring along the children, the triplets, Emily-Anne and Baby, but Jack and the others insisted. Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff had had to take Anna's dingy car up to the lake, because eleven people were as many as she could squeeze in, and that was with the triplets in the trunk and people crouching on the floor.

After an uncomfortable half-hour drive, with everyone griping and groaning about the lack of space, they finally arrived at Lake Dun'Broch. Everyone was relieved when its reflective surface, disturbed by the falling of leaves and slight winds, was spotted up the road. Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff arrived shortly after the original troop had unpacked the supplies. Rapunzel and Anna hugged as though it had been days since they'd last seen each other rather than minutes. Hiccup and Astrid began stringing the battery-powered lanterns in the branches around the lake while Merida got the fire started. The others began un-boxing things and turning on some music. The children ran to the pier, daring each other to jump in or stick in their feet. Rapunzel and Anna started up some trees to shake the leaves down on Tooth and Jack. A slow song had been chosen, and Jack had pulled the petite, dark-haired girl in for a dance. Elsa seized the photo op and took pictures of everyone.

Merida wrapped a blanket around herself and roasted a marshmallow over the fire and watched the other couples for about half an hour. Hiccup and Astrid were playing fetch with Toothless. Rapunzel, Eugene, Anna, Kristoff, Jack, and Tooth were dancing under the lanterns. Hubert was child-flirting with Emily-Anne, while Hamish was doing the same with Baby. Harris came over to join Merida in making s'mores, but Elsa was too busy taking pictures to join them.

"Those simperin', love-struck fools," said Merida, a wistful smile on her lips as she pulled the marshmallow off of her roasting stick with the graham crackers and chocolate. Harris speared a marshmallow on the end of his stick and began roasting it. "I hope ye aren't gonna grow up tah be jus' like 'em."

"Nay, never," said Harris, making a sour face. "I dunno why Hubert and Hamish are bein' like tha' with the lassies. They're stupid for it, though."

"Nay, I wouldn'a say stupid," said Merida, ruffling Harris' hair. "They shouldn'a be so direct if they're gonna flirt with the lassies, though. People change so much when they fall in love. We will, too."

Harris scoffed at the notion and then roasted his marshmallow silently. Merida watched the others for a few moments while chewing pensively on her s'more. Baby and Emily-Anne had joined in on the dancing when the radio played a fast song. Tooth and Elsa alternated taking pictures. Jack, Hubert, Hamish, and Hiccup were now teaching Toothless tricks, while Astrid came to join Harris and Merida. Eugene was sitting on the pier singing the song that was playing. Anna was dancing with the other girls.

"Sometimes I wonder how we ever got to be friends," said Astrid, brushing her blonde bangs from her eyes. "I mean, look at us. You and I are strong, aggressive girls. Anna and Rapunzel are day-dreaming artsy types. Hiccup is an awkward nerd. Eugene is a flirt. Kristoff is very unwilling to take part in anything until Anna makes him. Jack is an arrogant prick sometimes. Tooth is a giggly pixie. Elsa is a funny, quiet woman. Your brothers are so much younger than us, so are Emily-Anne and Baby. Then there's a dog. We've gotta be the weirdest bunch ever."

"Ye know, when you put it like tha', we sound like we should be breaking out in fist-fights every so often," said Merida with a laugh. "We may be an odd bunch, but we're the best friends ever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try somethin' else. It seems to me that there needs to be some sort of competition going on today."

Meanwhile, Tooth took a break from capturing memories and pulled Jack aside, off into the tree line. The two had become close when Emily-Anne, Jack's younger sister, had gone missing. He had jokingly flirted with her before then, but it was only after Emily-Anne was found that things got serious between the two.

"So, Tooth," said Jack, resting a hand on her cheek. He pulled her tiny frame in for a hug, resting a hand on the back of her head. "All pictured out, huh?"

"Not really, I just wanted to have a moments quiet with you," said Tooth. She pulled back and stuffed her hands in the pocket of her peacock hoodie. Jack's brown eyes met her violet ones and she smiled shyly at her feet. "Don't give me that look, you know what I meant."

"Oh, I know exactly what you meant," said Jack, pulling Tooth in for a kiss. "And I like it."

Tooth smiled awkwardly and folded herself into his outstretched arms. The friends stayed there for hours, until long after Emily-Anne and Baby had fallen asleep. The orange, red, yellow, and amber leaves fell all through the celebration of friends, and the moon rose higher and higher. They didn't return to Arendelle Academy until the wee hours of the morning, but when they did, there was laughter in their eyes and a glow in their cheeks. Elsa took one of the leaves from the lake and put it in her box of memories, knowing she'd remember the night fondly for a long time.


	2. Apple

RotBTFD 30 day Challenge: Day Two.

Prompt: Apple.

A few days had passed since the late night lake excursion, and Astrid's homework had begun piling up on her desk. She knew that she should probably get some of it done, but she always got distracted by her extracurricular activities. She had archery, self-defence, MMA, and she was on the school volleyball team on top of that. She knew she should probably drop one of those to focus on her studies, but she had so much fun at all of them. Merida was in the archery class too, and those two girls always held the top ranking, often tying with the other's score. It wasn't until Astrid had a week's worth of homework piled up that she decided to enlist help. She met up with Hiccup in the library Friday after class that week.

"Y'know Astrid," said Hiccup, arranging Astrid's homework in order of due date, with the ones with the closest deadline on top and the ones from Friday on the bottom. Astrid leaned back in her chair, arms crossed and feet propped up on the table. "We could probably get all of this done by tonight. It would've been a lot easier, but you're such a procrastinator."

"Y'know, Hiccup," said Astrid, mocking his tone. "I know where you sleep."

"And I know where you sleep, your point is?" asked Hiccup with a sly smile on his face. Astrid rolled her eyes and took her feet off of the table. Hiccup handed Astrid her first assignment and a calculator and pencil. "Now, for this one, all you need to do is use PEDMAS, alright?"

"Yeah, I got it," said Astrid. Astrid set to work on the worksheet. She stayed on task for all of ten minutes before Rapunzel and Tooth came into the library, Baby trailing behind them. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Astrid!" said Tooth, pulling up a chair at their table. Hiccup cleared his throat and Tooth looked up at him. "Oh, are we interrupting something?"

"We're just working on our homework," said Astrid, gesturing to the stack of papers in the center of the round table. "You guys can join us, if you want."

"Astrid, you really need to focus," said Hiccup. Astrid glared daggers at him. "What? You asked me to help you out, and it's easier to do your homework if you don't have any distractions."

"Thanks for the advice, Mom," said Astrid, folding her arms across her chest. "Look, I just wanted you to help me figure out things that I didn't understand, but now Tooth and Rapunzel are here. If you're going to lecture me about this, then I suggest you leave."

"Astrid, I'm not lecturing you," said Hiccup, his tone taking on an edge that wasn't normally found in Hiccup's voice. "You asked for my help, I'm trying to help. Do you not want my help anymore?"

"I don't need your help anymore, not when Rapunzel and Tooth are here," said Astrid, leaning across the table. "Just because we're dating doesn't mean you're the only one who knows how to do math and conjugate verbs!"

"Astrid Hofferson," said Mrs. Corona, Rapunzel's mother and librarian at the school. She had been shelving books when the commotion had caught her attention. "You've been here all of ten minutes and already you're causing more ruckus than anyone in the room. I'm going to have to ask you and Mr. Haddock to pack up your things and leave. Work out your issues somewhere else."

"But Mom," said Rapunzel, trying her pouty face on the middle-aged woman. "Please, I'll make sure they keep quiet."

"Nice try, dear," said Mrs. Corona, placing a hand under her daughter's chin. "The rules are that if you are being unnecessarily loud, you leave the library, plain and simple. I can't bend those rules just because they're your friends. Astrid. Hiccup. Out."

Astrid grumbled something about stupid teachers under her breath, earning an 'Oh, really?' look from Mrs. Corona. Hiccup left the room and went to the left, off towards the pet room, no doubt to spend some alone time with Toothless. Astrid stamped out the door and went back to the room she and Merida shared. Once there, she slammed the papers down on her desk and flopped facedown on her bed. She proceeded to scream long and loud. Then she went out to the woods and threw rocks around for about half an hour until she realized grudgingly that she had to get her homework done or she'd have to work on it over the weekend. She hated doing schoolwork over the weekend; it took away from all of the awesome stuff she already had planned.

Merida returned to the room to find Astrid finishing up Friday's homework, the rest of the week's homework on the desk next to her. Merida laughed, causing Astrid to give her a look. Merida held up her hands defensively and untied the necktie that was part of the school's uniform.

"I never thought I'd actually see ye doin' yer homework," said Merida, tossing her book bag on the floor next to her bed. "Did Hiccup convince ye to do it?"

"Hiccup…" said Astrid, wondering why she had left the library. She'd forgotten all about the fight until Merida reminded her. Her eyes went wide and she gasped audibly. "Hiccup! Oh, Meri, you know I'd love to chat, but I have to go apologize."

"Apologize?" asked Merida. Astrid furiously wrote a few words on the page and slammed down the pencil. Mere seconds later, she was out the door. She didn't even close it behind her; instead it was left swinging in her wake. Merida blinked in shock and shrugged out of her forest green blazer. "Well then…"

Astrid raced through the halls, the sun setting out the window. She thought about how she was going to apologize the whole way to the pet room. By the time she got there, she had come up with the perfect thing to say. Kristoff was on his way out of the pet room, an apple held up to his open mouth. Astrid snatched it from his hand faster than Kristoff could blink. He turned to look at the swinging door to the pet room and sighed. Things at this school were never normal, but that one took the cake. Once in the room, Astrid located Hiccup in the tangle of cats and dogs. There were also lizards, birds, and a few frogs and salamanders, but they weren't allowed to roam free in the room. They were in cages and terrariums. Hiccup was at the back of the room, lying on his back while being buried alive by kittens and puppies. His laughter circled around the room, bringing a smile to Astrid's face.

"Some way to spend an afternoon, huh?" said Astrid, kneeling down to catch Toothless in a hug when he and Hiccup heard her voice. Astrid laughed as Toothless bounded towards her and Hiccup dug his way out of the babies. Astrid gave Toothless a quick belly-rub before rising to her feet and meeting Hiccup's green eyes with her blue ones. She held out the apple with an apologetic look on her face. "I used to give apples to my teachers in grade school, and I really just wanted to apologize. That, and see what Kristoff would do if I took his apple right from his hand."

"Th…Thanks, Astrid," said Hiccup sheepishly, taking the bright red fruit from her outstretched hand. "Look, I'm sorry, too. Being practically knee-deep in cats and dogs for an hour or so really makes arguments feel stupid."

"It wasn't even that big of a deal," said Astrid, rubbing her arm. "You were right. I got my work done in an hour without distractions. It made me forget all about our fight. And you know what? I think it's just silly how often we fight over small things."

"You said it," said Hiccup. He tossed the apple from hand to hand before scanning the room. "Well, I think we should maybe leave the room. Almost dinnertime."

Astrid smiled and pulled Hiccup in for a hug. Despite them both being the same age (16, for the record), Hiccup was considerably short. His chin barely hung over her shoulder. He moved her blonde ponytail out of his eyes and then pulled back to smile at her.

"Hiccup?" asked Astrid. He raised an eyebrow in response. "Can I punch you after this?"

"Well," said Hiccup with a grin unfitting of what she had just said. "Will I get a kiss afterwards?"

"Sure," said Astrid. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut and Astrid punched his shoulder. Then she closed the distance between their lips. After pulling away, she took his hand. "C'mon. Better get to the dinner hall before Jack or Eugene start spreading stories."

"Well, lemme put this in my locker," said Hiccup, holding up the apple as they walked out the door. Kristoff was standing near the door. "I'll get it after dinner."

"No, you won't," said Kristoff, snatching the apple back. Hiccup and Astrid watched with wide eyes as Kristoff took a giant bite out of the fruit and chewed it with loud crunches. "My apple. Not yours."

Astrid sighed and smiled. After apologizing to Kristoff, the three continued on to the dining hall. Dessert was apple pie, so nobody lost out on apple goodness.


End file.
